We believe in support as a career at Automattic, and only hire for the role as a full-time position. The work of engineering happiness spans weekdays, weekends, and holidays. Our users all over the world have questions at all times of day (and night!) and they like getting answers right away!

How do we make it work, and still maintain our culture of flexibility and autonomy? We use a scheduling app that helps us create a fresh schedule every week. Once Happiness Engineers submit their availability for each week, our team of schedulers compiles a schedule of support blocks based on that information.

This flexibility allows Happiness Engineers to craft schedules that suit their lifestyle, such as:

• Split shifts; that is, taking a long mid-day break to work out, care for a pet, or take a nap
• Working earlier or later on different days — want to quit early on Tuesdays to coach an afterschool club, and make it up by working later on Thursdays? No problem!
• Starting on an earlier or later schedule as the seasons change, adapting to changes in a child’s school schedule — or just chasing sunlight!

Happiness Engineers support weekend coverage by submitting availability for at least two weekend days per month. For each weekend day worked, a “flex” weekday is taken off. This gives staff the freedom to take a class, attend a child’s school events, or go to weekday appointments without missing any work time.

With staff all over the world, many statutory holidays can be accommodated for those who observe them, with coverage provided by colleagues in other countries. To allow staff time with their families, we work together to cover the days around them so it’s equitable to all staff while still serving our customers.

Our job description and link to apply can be found here.